India on Monday announced that the eight veterans of the Indian Navy who were sentenced to death in Qatar have been released. Seven of them have returned to India, the Ministry of External Affairs said in an official statement.

The seven individuals, namely Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Commander Amit Nagpal, and Sailor Ragesh, were working for a private company — Dahra Global company. 

They were in Qatar to assist with the introduction of Italian U212 stealth submarines into the Qatari Emiri Naval Force in their personal roles.

Here is a timeline of the case:

2022

August 30: Eight men were arrested for unknown reasons and placed in solitary confinement. According to reports, they were arrested by Qatar’s intelligence agency for spying. 

October 1: The Indian Ambassador in Doha and Deputy Head of Mission met the navy veterans.

October 3: First Consular access was granted. CEO of Dahra Global also tried to help his officials but ended up getting arrested. He spent two months in solitary confinement and was later released on bail.

2023

March 1: The veterans’ multiple bail pleas were rejected.

March 25: Charges were filed against the eight men.

March 29: The trial, following Qatari law, began.

May 30: Dahra Global closed its operations in Doha, and its former employees, mostly Indians, returned home.

August 4: The arrested men were moved from solitary confinement to a jail ward with their colleagues, with two men in each cell.

October 26: A Qatar court sentenced all eight men to death.

November 9: India said it has filed an appeal with Qatar over the death penalty to eight former Navy personnel. 

November 23: The court accepted India’s appeal against the death penalty.

December 28: India said that the eight ex-Navy personnel will now face commuted punishments. 

2024

February 12: India announced that the eight veterans of the Indian Navy have been released.

The Navy veterans freed by Qatar after over a year in an alleged spying case have thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government for securing their release. Seven of the eight veterans, who are back in the country, walked out of the Delhi airport chanting ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai‘.

#WATCH | Delhi: One of the Navy veterans who returned from Qatar says, “We are very happy that we are back in India, safely. Definitely, we would like to thank PM Modi, as this was only possible because of his personal intervention…” pic.twitter.com/iICC1p7YZr

— ANI (@ANI) February 12, 2024

“We are very happy that we are back in India, safely. Definitely, we would like to thank PM Modi as this was only possible because of his personal intervention,” said one of them.

#WATCH | Delhi: One of the Navy veterans who returned from Qatar says, “It wouldn’t have been possible for us to stand here without the intervention of PM Modi. And it also happened due to the continuous efforts of the Government of India.” pic.twitter.com/bcwEWvWIDK

— ANI (@ANI) February 12, 2024

“It wouldn’t have been possible for us to stand here without the intervention of PM Modi. And it also happened due to the continuous efforts of the Government of India,” said another veteran.

Another veteran said they had to wait for 18 months to return to India.

#WATCH | Delhi: One of the Navy veterans who returned from Qatar says, “We waited almost for 18 months to be back in India. We are extremely grateful to the PM. It wouldn’t have been possible without his personal intervention and his equation with Qatar. We are grateful to the… pic.twitter.com/5DiBC0yZPd

— ANI (@ANI) February 12, 2024

“We waited almost for 18 months to be back in India. We are extremely grateful to the PM. It wouldn’t have been possible without his personal intervention and his equation with Qatar. We are grateful to the Government of India from the bottom of our hearts for every effort that has been made and this day won’t have been possible without those efforts,” he said.

The government announced their release early this morning, thanking the Amir of Qatar for enabling their homecoming.

“The Government of India welcomes the release of eight Indian nationals working for the Dahra Global company who were detained in Qatar. Seven out of the eight of them have returned to India. We appreciate the decision by the Amir of the State of Qatar to enable the release and home-coming of these nationals,” the Foreign Ministry said.

The veterans did not have prior information of their release and were taken away by embassy officials shortly after they were freed, sources told NDTV. They boarded an IndiGo flight yesterday and returned after 2 am, they added.

Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, Commander Amit Nagpal, and Sailor Ragesh were arrested in August.

They were employed by a private firm, Dahra Global, and were in Qatar to assist with the introduction of Italian U212 stealth submarines into the Qatari Emiri Naval Force in their personal roles.

A Qatari court sentenced them to death on October 26, 2023. India had said it was “deeply shocked” by the verdict and that it was exploring all legal options.

The capital punishment was commuted in December following India’s diplomatic intervention.

The seven Navy veterans jailed in Qatar, who were brought back to India today, had no clue of their imminent release, sources have told NDTV. The veterans, the sources said, were asked by jailors last night to pack their things and wait at about 9 am (local time) yesterday. They were then whisked away to the Embassy and subsequently taken to the airport, sources said. They boarded an IndiGo flight that landed in Delhi at 2 am.

The seven veterans are among eight Indians sentenced to death by a Qatar court in October, allegedly for spying. The capital punishment was commuted in December following India’s diplomatic intervention. The lone veteran not back yet is working through some paper work and is expected to return soon.

The veterans who returned today are Captain Navtej Singh Gill (retired), Captain Saurabh Vasisht (retired), Commander Purnendu Tiwari (retired), Captain Birendra Kumar Verma (retired), Commander Sugunakar Pakala (retired), Commander Sanjeev Gupta (retired), Commander Amit Nagpal (retired) and Sailor Ragesh (retired). The eight veterans were arrested in Qatar in 2022 and were in jail since.

While reports said they were arrested on charges of spying, neither New Delhi nor Doha has publicly remarked on the allegations against them. Before their arrest, the veterans were employed by a private firm, Dahra Global, and were involved in training the Qatar Navy.

The External Affairs Ministry statement informing of their release said Indian welcomes the release of eight Indian nationals “working for the Dahra Global company who were detained in Qatar”. “Seven out of the eight of them have returned to India. We appreciate the decision by the Amir of the State of Qatar to enable the release and home-coming of these nationals,” the ministry said.

The veterans’ death sentence was commuted in December, shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai.

Back home, one of the veterans thanked the Prime Minister. “We are very happy that we are back in India, safely. Definitely, we would like to thank PM Modi as this was only possible because of his personal intervention.”

“We waited for 18 months to be back in India. We are extremely grateful to the Prime Minister. It wouldn’t have been possible without his personal intervention and his equation with Qatar. We are grateful to the Government of India from the bottom of our hearts for every effort that has been made,” said another.